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Friday, November 7

Keeping Your Toddler Busy...

Though I try to involve my little girl in whatever I am doing, realistically I need a distraction for her sometimes. My favorite ways to keep her occupied are to give her vegetable scraps to "cook" with, dishes to "wash" and flour and water to make "bread."

6 comments:

I give her something specific to play with (ie, go get a puzzle to do) or occasionally let her turn on the piano (it's electronic; we move too often for a real one) to mess around. She's pretty good at amusing herself and not being in the way, but like the girl with the curl, when she gets in the way, she really gets in the way!

Play-doh!!!! This has been SUCH a life saver in the times that I need to really concentrate on preparing something for a meal, someone has come over in need of counsel, or whatever the reason. Elizabeth LOVES play-doh and will play with it for a good 30 minutes straight without moving!! Of course, I do not remember the age of your daughter... Elizabeth is 2 1/2, so maybe this wouldn't be appropriate for your daughter's age.

I try to keep DS as involved in what I'm doing as possible. He's right up there on the learning tower next to me while I'm in the kitchen or we take turns vacuuming or he scrubs the shower while I clean the rest of the bathrooms, sorts laundry for me, etc. I've just gotten used to finding extra steps in each job just for him. For example, he really likes cleaning the dryer vent of lint!

My only restriction is on playing in the sink while I wash dishes. Sometimes it's just not the best time for him to get soaked! If that's the case or if he's not interested in what I'm doing (rare!), he tends to roam free. That usually means playing his piano, reading, or driving trucks around the playroom. I don't often give him specific activities to keep him occupied while I'm working, since I like him to encourage him to help and I want him to have as much free play as possible!

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I am an Orthodox Christian woman who is happily married to an Orthodox priest. I am a mama to three little ones and I enjoy trying to create a peaceful and lovely life for my sweet family!
E-mail: emily at orthodoxws dot com